More legal troubles for Anderson trustee

Oct. 3, 2013

Written by

O'Brien

Previous issues

Ever since O’Brien was elected, he has faced calls from residents to resign as an Anderson Township trustee, but has repeatedly refused to step down. It began before he was officially sworn in as trustee when a report detailing his lifetime ban from the securities industry came to light following his election in November 2009. That report from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) alleged O’Brien misappropriated more than $300,000 of a client’s money for his personal use and failed to report outside business activity while he was employed at Robert W. Baird and Co. O’Brien was discharged from the company in 2008 and agreed to the FINRA sanctions without admitting or denying the allegations. Baird sued him in April 2010 for repayment of $336,175 from a settlement the company made with the client. O’Brien denied the allegations in that lawsuit and the case was settled in March 2012, but terms of the agreement were not disclosed. • A group of more than 40 township residents in 2009 successfully petitioned a judge to increase O’Brien’s surety bond from the state minimum of $1,000 because of questions surrounding his previous financial dealings. The bond was set at $25,000, and O’Brien agreed to that amount before the case went to trial. • In 2011, the Ohio Division of Securities accused O’Brien of violating state law by giving investment advice without a license. He signed a consent agreement with the state agency after it issued a cease and desist order to prevent O’Brien from receiving compensation for investment advice without the proper license, and ordered him to refund fees for at least two clients. • In July 2012, O’Brien was arrested and charged with three counts of public indecency. He pleaded not guilty and the case has since been dismissed.

Your Enquirer Vote team

Reporters Kurt Backscheider, Keith BieryGolick, Leah Fightmaster, Jeanne Houck, Jennie Key, Forrest Sellers and Lisa Wakeland are covering 21 local government elections and 11 school board races on the Nov. 5 ballot. Find your local election stories at Cincinnati.com/EnquirerVote. Live in the city of Cincinnati? Reporters Jane Prendergast, Sharon Coolidge, John Johnston, Jason Williams, James Pilcher and others will do the work so you have what you need to vote in city elections this November

More

ADVERTISEMENT

Anderson Township Trustee Kevin O’Brien, who is running for re-election, is embroiled in at least three new lawsuits.

One involves non-payment of thousands of dollars in credit card debt.

Another accuses him of “fraudulent misrepresentation,” trespassing and other claims surrounding the sale of his former home on Hopper Road.

Both cases are in Hamilton County Municipal Court.

A third, which is in Hamilton County Probate Court, involves multiple issues surrounding a trust agreement where O’Brien served as a trustee.

He was removed from those duties Aug. 15 and asked to provide an immediate accounting of the trust.

While O’Brien did comment on some of cases against him, he repeatedly said he was “reluctant” to say much because of the “ongoing nature of this.”

Credit card case

Capital One in June sued O’Brien for not paying his credit card. The company said in its complaint he owes more than $6,300. They’re asking the judge to make O’Brien pay the total amount, plus a post-judgment interest of 3 percent per year and court costs.

“This issue is a remaining item with the unwinding of my 18-year marriage with my former spouse,” O’Brien said.

In July, O’Brien asked the court for more time to respond because he was “in the process of filing for bankruptcy.”

He later told the Forest Hills Journal he was “not going to file bankruptcy for $6,000” but would not directly address if he planned to file bankruptcy because of other financial trouble.

Former home lawsuit

This case surrounds the short sale of O’Brien’s former home on Hopper Road. Last September, First Financial Bank began foreclosure proceedings and stated in its complaint there were more than $373,000 of unpaid mortgage and interest dating back to August 2011.

(Page 2 of 3)

While O’Brien was going through the foreclosure process, Craig Roberts agreed to buy the home in a short sale. His company would pay $543,200 for the home, which would then be leased back to Roberts as a residence.

According to contract documents signed at the end of February by both parties, O’Brien was supposed to leave the property by the closing date, set for April 30.

The initial complaint, filed by O’Brien Aug. 15, claimed Roberts failed to return a generator and utility trailer and sought to recoup $2,866.

In his complaint, Roberts alleges that O’Brien, in writing, claimed he did not know of any previous or current presence of or damage from wood-destroying insects.

However, Roberts claims in the complaint O’Brien did know about tree damage on the property.

He is seeking to recoup more than $12,500 – the cost of having to remove dead trees and the approximate value of the ash and cherry trees on the property.

O’Brien was reluctant to discuss the complaint and said he was “not an insect guy and not a tree guy.”

“Mr. Roberts had ample time to do his due diligence and inspections,” he said.

“I answered all the questions he had – far more information than any seller is expected to provide.”

Roberts’ counterclaim also alleges O’Brien stayed in the house past closing and continued to store personal property on the premises.

According to court documents, Roberts told O’Brien to stay off the property, but he “continued to enter the property while Roberts was absent, and tried to enter buildings on the property, committing new trespasses.”

O’Brien told the Forest Hills Journal that is false, and he left the house the day of closing.

He also said there was an agreement with Roberts for him to continue to store some property on the premises.

(Page 3 of 3)

He declined to comment further on the lawsuit, and there is a conference scheduled with the judge at the beginning of December.

Removed from trust

A third lawsuit surrounds O’Brien’s removal as a trustee from the John Teeter Trust Agreement. He became a trustee of that trust in 1998, while he was still with Robert W. Baird and Co., and was removed in mid-August by Emily Teeter Wright, the sole beneficiary of the trust.

There are several issues alleged in the complaint and attached exhibits including that O’Brien served without a co-trustee, as required in the trust documents, from June 2003 until his removal this August.

The complaint also claims O’Brien, as sole trustee, failed to pay taxes via the trust on a home in Norwood, where Wright currently lives. There is a pending tax lien on the property.

In a letter notifying O’Brien of his removal as trustee, which was attached to the complaint, O’Brien was directed to provide an immediate accounting of the trust.

The complaint alleges O’Brien “failed to provide an appropriate accounting of the trust assets … and disbursements, including the source and the amount of the trustee’s compensation.”

O’Brien told the Forest Hills Journal that “Wright has some responsibility with this,” and he did provide an accounting from her recent divorce proceedings.

The complaint asks the Probate Court to investigate the administration of the trust and appoint a suitable person to serve as a successor.

O’Brien declined to comment further on this case.

Greg Delev, the attorney representing Wright in this case, said he does not want to comment on pending litigation.